Whale Rider

Ihimaera, Witi. Whale Rider. New York: Harcourt. 1987. Print.

First Sentences:

In the old days, in the years that have gone before us, the land and sea felt a great emptiness, a yearning.


Description:

This first sentence in Witi Ihimaera's Whale Rider perfectly exemplifies what the book will bring to each and every reader: a dreamy tone, a personification of powerful elements, and an intriguing concept that those elements are somehow feeling unfulfilled. There is the teasing hint that this story will poetically describe the reasons behind the feeling of the land and sea, the journey to address this sadness, and the resolution, whatever that might be.

I was grabbed immediately by the writing. It reads as if you were eavesdropping on the retelling of an oral history of an ancient folk legend that was a key part of the Maori people and culture of New Zealand. I just settled into a comfy chair, curled up, and let myself be absorbed by the rich narration and the musicality of the Maori words sprinkled in. It seemed a privilege to overhear this story from the words of a master storyteller like Witi Ihimaera.

The sea had looked like crinkled silver foil smoothed right out to the edge of the sky....This was the well at the bottom of the world, and when you looked into it you felt you could see to the end of forever.

The story outlines two narratives. One, of the current life of the people of the coastal village of Whangara, New Zealand. It is guided by its ancestral leader, Koro Apirana, and his granddaughter Kahu. The second parallel story recounts the legend of Kahutia Te Rangi, the ancestral Whale Rider, who could talk with animals and, while astride the back of a huge bull whale, rode from the ancient grounds of Hawaiki to settle Koro's village of Whangara. The Whale Rider is said to return someday to re-establish the Maori culture that is fast being lost in the modern world.

The village leader, Koro Apirana, a descendent of founder Kahutia Te Rangi, is concerned that there is no male heir to take over his leadership role and preserve the Maori traditions. Only Kahu, his granddaughter and a girl, is a direct issue of his blood. But as a girl, Koro feels she is ineligible to fulfill that blood destiny. He rejects her love, bars her from his school where he teaches boys the Maori knowledge, and prays that his son and wife will give birth to another child, this one a male.

But Kahu has boundless love for her old Paka grandfather and sneaks around outside the school to learn for herself the Maoi lessons before being run off by Koro. She has a sensitivity to her environment and even seems to be intricately tapped into the Maori culture.

Maybe you saw the 2002 movie, Whale Rider, based on this book. While it's a visually stunning depiction of this story. But as is the case with every movie-from-a-book, the written tale is vastly superior. The details, conversation sprinkled with Maori words, the reverence for the legends, and the power of internal thoughts makes the book deeply involving. Still, I highly recommend watching the movie after reading the book as it gives viewers a beautiful image of the people, events, and elements. And hearing the Maori language spoken is wonderful.

I highly recommend this book for his poetic style, its familiarization of Maori culture, and its strong depiction of a people striving to understand the world and people they live with while trying to remain true to the ancient traditions and history of their culture.

 

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

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Goldsberry, Steven. Maui, the Demigod: An Epic Novel of Historical Hawaii   

Retelling the story of the Hawaiian gods, from the history of Maui, the Trickster. (Disclaimer: I met author Goldsberry in Hawaii while he was writing this, so wanted to give his fine book a plug. I found it a fascinating storytelling and a highly informative read. FR)